“He has played nearly 30 games for Exeter in League Two and has excelled in League Two. West Brom are very happy with him and he seems to have a future there. Ryan is on standby for this squad.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that one player has done better than others.

“Maybe it’s that a certain position has greater opportunities sometimes and it’s about the blend and balance in the squad, which is very important.

The ex-Dundalk boss also outlined that the sheer amount of games this year, 11 in total, will see a lot of players get their opportunity in the green jersey.

“There are a lot of players that did well in that camp that are not in this squad. I think that’s the nature of it. There are 11 games with the U21 squad this year, which is unprecedented.

“Minimum 11 games, so anyone that wasn’t selected for this squad, we will certainly be monitoring their progress with a view to being involved in the U21 tournament in Toulon in June and the six subsequent qualifiers after that.

“So this is a squad in mind for the first qualifier against Luxembourg, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a lot of flexibility to change over the year, because I’m sure there will be changes based on form and availability.”